PHOENIX - Cody Bellinger looked like a rookie throughout most of the NLDS between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. He came into Game 3 just 1 for 10 with six strikeouts, and in his first two at-bats Monday had only seen three pitches while the rest of the team grinded away at Zack Greinke.

Manager Dave Roberts spotted the frustration and pulled his first baseman aside to give him a little reminder.

"Listen," Roberts told Bellinger in the dugout after his third-inning at-bat, "you picked us up all year. We'll get you right here and next at-bat don't try to do too much."

Bellinger responded with the crushing blow to Greinke and the D-backs' chances - a fifth-inning, two-out solo home run that gave the Dodgers a two-run lead in what eventually became a 3-1 win in a series sweep.

It was a full-circle moment for Bellinger, the likely NL Rookie of the Year. A year ago the Scottsdale native was playing in the Arizona Fall League. On Monday, he was taking Greinke deep and sending the Dodgers to the NLCS.

"The game in this environment has a tendency to speed up on people, not just young players," Roberts said. "But for Cody to sort of reset, get some clarity and get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it, (a) lot of credit to him."

Bellinger hit .267/.352/.581 with 39 home runs this season, and his late-April promotion sparked the Dodgers' historic run. But that doesn't mean he wasn't prone to rookie moments. While his teammates forced Greinke to throw 29 first-inning pitches Monday, Bellinger only saw two, although the second one ended in an RBI groundout. In the third inning, Corey Seager walked ahead of a Justin Turner single. Instead of sticking with the patient approach, Bellinger flied out softly to left field on the first pitch he saw.

There was nothing soft about his opposite-field home run in the fifth. It came on one of his picture-perfect swings, which sent the baseball deep into the left-center bleachers.

"This whole season's been crazy," he said. "(I'm) trying to enjoy it as much as I can. It was really cool coming back to Chase Field. (I) played here in high school, (and) to celebrate here with the Dodgers is pretty special."

Roberts also told Bellinger not to worry about the results and just "play the game with the zeal and youthful enthusiasm that he does." But, in part because of what Bellinger has done this season, the playoff results matter. The Dodgers in this series looked like the Dodgers of July rather than September, and if Bellinger can provide thump, he'll have stories to tell beyond his experience watching his dad, Clay, a World Series champion with the Yankees.

"Hopefully we can get one here in LA," Cody Bellinger said, "and experience that for myself."